Alliance Capital's India Liberalisation, run by Samir Arora, has raised its S&P Fund Research rating to frAAA, in S&PFR's latest Asian review. An aggressive style and a spread of investments beyond privatisation has boosted performance to top decile. India is seen as good on tech skills, where the fund is strong. Its top five holdings are Infosys Tech, Zee Telefilms, Satyam Computer, Himachal and HDFC.

JF Thailand has retained its frAAA rating. S&PFR has failed to give any other Asian funds its top rating. But increased ratings went to frAA-rated Barclays Thailand, Fleming India and HSBC India. Reduced ratings went to Dresdner RCM Tiger Hong Kong, Henderson HF India, HSBC China and HSBC Hong Kong following a volatile year in which the spread of performance was wide.